Milestone season for Berwick's Connolly

Wednesday

Nov 14, 2012 at 3:15 AMNov 14, 2012 at 5:17 AM

By John Doylejdoyle@fosters.com

SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — It's hard to separate Patrick Connolly from the sport of soccer. In fact, even though the long-time boys soccer coach at Berwick Academy is also a dedicated English teacher at the school, in August most of his focus is on one thing.

“I don't look at it as coming back to school, I look at it as coming back to soccer,” Connolly said. “A lot of the relationships I have with the kids kind of start with soccer first, then blend into the classroom. If you ask my wife, she'd probably call it some sort of obsessive complex. But I guess we all have to have (one).”

Connolly, in his 17th year coaching the Bulldogs, recently won his 200th career game. Over Connolly's tenure, Berwick has made 11 trips to the New England Prep School Athletic Conference tournament — including one that starts today. BA has won it all in 1999, 2003, and 2007). The win total is also the largest in the 50-year history of the program.

“You stick around long enough, these things happen,” Connolly said with a laugh.

His players said Connolly's enthusiasm for the game constantly shines through.

“He brings all of his energy to the games and practices,” said Berwick junior goalkeeper Erik Wisniewski. “It really pushes us to work harder.”

The Bulldogs will take an 11-6-2 overall record into the NEPSAC Class C tournament quarterfinals this afternoon (2 p.m.) at Hebron Academy (Maine). Should Berwick win, they will either host Marianapolis Prep (Conn.) or visit Beaver Country Day School in Newton, Mass., on Saturday in the semifinals.

While Berwick has already had a successful season, things did not start out that way.

“It's been one of the more interesting seasons we've had in years,” Connolly said. “It's been challenging in some ways, too. We had a lot of new faces and by the end of September we were where we should be, around .500. We won some games, lost some games we shouldn't have.”

Connolly said things turned around early in October, after the team held an impromptu mini-retreat at a secluded location on campus.

“Then we just rattled off a boatload of wins,” Connolly said. “We just stopped giving up goals and started scoring them. I think we scored probably 30 times in the month of October and gave up three or four goals. The kids saw themselves as a different type of team.”

Although it wasn't a win, Connolly said his team played one of its best games in a 1-0 loss at Phillips Exeter, which will play in the Class A tier of the NEPSAC tournament. The team was an 8-1 winner vs. Lexington Christian, which clinched No. 200 for Connolly.

“He's a great guy and one of my favorite coaches I've ever had, and I've played soccer my entire life,” said senior defender Chris Richards, who had an assist in Connolly's milestone win. “We played a great game of soccer and it was fantastic to get it for him.”

Connolly grew up in North Andover, Mass., and played four years of college soccer at Westfield (Mass.) State College in the late 1980s. He came to Berwick in 1993 after finishing graduate work at the University of New Hampshire.

“It's a great place to coach because the athletic department gives you a lot of room to express yourself, do your thing, expand your schedule,” Connolly said. “I think the admissions office itself is quick to take in good kids. We've always enjoyed character-type kids. They're willing to learn and they work hard. We very rarely get outworked. And very rarely do we get out-thought, I suppose, is the word I'm looking for.”